Deadwood

Gold, Guns, and Greed in the American West

By: Peter Cozzens

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

The true story of the Black Hills gold rush settlement once described as “the most diabolical town on earth” and of its most colorful cast of characters, from Wild Bill Hickok to Calamity Jane to Al Swearingen and Sheriff Seth Bullock.

"In these pungent pages, you can smell the whiskey, the gunsmoke, the horse lather, the gold dust, and the mining chemicals . . . A fine non-fiction narrative that's as alluring as its subject.” —Hampton Sides

"If you thought HBO’s television series of the same name was hyperbolic, buckle in . . . The TV characters were all real and they’re all here . . . Milch’s Deadwood is Shakespearean; Cozzens’s is all verifiable fact, yet it loses nothing in the straighter telling . . . [A] fast-paced and unbelievable-if-it-weren't-true story." --Carl Hoffman, The Washington Post

Sifting through layers and layers of myth and legend—from nineteenth-century dime novels like Deadwood Dick, to HBO prestige dramas to the casino billboards outside of present-day Deadwood—Peter Cozzens unveils the true face of Deadwood, South Dakota, the storied mining town that sprang up in early 1876 and came raining down in ashes only three years later, destined to become food for the imagination and a nostalgic landmark that now brings in more than two and a half million visitors each year.

That Western romance, we’re reminded by Cozzens—the prizewinning author of The Earth Is Weeping—retains its allure only as long as we willfully ignore the town’s foundational sins. Built on land brazenly stolen from the Lakotas, Deadwood was not merely a place where outlaws lurked, like Tombstone or Dodge City, but was itself an outlaw enterprise, not part of any U.S. territory or subject to U.S. laws or governance. This gave rise to the gunslinging, stagecoach robbing, whiskey guzzling, rampant prostitution, and gambling Deadwood is known for. But it also bred a self-reliance and a spirit of cooperation unique on the frontier, and made it an exceptionally welcoming place for Black Americans and Chinese immigrants at a time of deep-seated discrimination.

The first book to tell this complex story in full, Deadwood reveals how one frontier town came to embody the best and worst of the West—a relic of humanity’s eternal quest to create order from chaos, a greater good from individual greed, and security from violence.

One of the best histories I’ve ever seen

I have read and listened to a lot of history, on a variety of topics- this is one of the best.

The narrator is perfect for it, and I wasn’t sure at first as he has quite an interesting western accent. However, it works perfectly for this book.

Having always been a fan of the Deadwood tv show, and even having visited the real place twice, I had a decent idea of the history. This book provides so much more.

I never knew how many of the characters in the show, even very minor ones, were based on real people. Not all of them are the same as in the show, which took a lot of dramatic license, but it made it even more fascinating to learn the real stories of these people and the lives they led.

Highly recommend!

Most balanced history of Deadwood’s development I’ve heard yet.

I love history but the usual history of Deadwood’s origin neglects any balance of the full truth of how the land was stolen by gold seekers from its rightful owners: the Lakota.
There is likely far more to know about the violence that settlers and the US military imposed upon the Lakota people. There are likely far more Lakota heroes in courageously defending their land.
However this book does a far superior job than any history I’ve yet heard yet about the settling of Deadwood and the Black Hills.
All souls are created equally by God. Many lives were lost by the owners of the land (Lakota) and the gold greedy settlers that stole it.
The truth is important.
Deadwood’s history is fascinating.
But it’s about far more than gold.

Great listen!

Really well written and the narration is great. Fascinating, insightful, funny, scary, sad, wise. I finished it in two days! I can’t recommend it enough.

Deadwood

Great story well told. It was recommended by my book group. Well worth listening to. I recommend it

Good book

Although it started out slow with the “poor Native American” narrative, it was a good and fair account of the times. I’ve watched the show, this book does it better.